A Life Not Worth Living
by ShadowsEve
Summary: What do you do when you realize your life is not worth living? That is what Uzumaki Naruto asks himself after he fails the Graduation Exam for the first time, and decides to drop out of the shinobi program. From that point on he lives looking for the answer to that one question, if not for himself, then for the others out there like him. No pairings so far.
1. The Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own the Naruto franchise for that belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. The only thing I own is my imagination.

The Beginning:

October 10th, a day that has been labeled as one of the darkest days in the history of Konohagakure, and for good reason too. It is on this day that the mighty Kyuubi no Kitsune was unleashed upon the mighty hidden village in the middle of the night. No one truly knows how or why the Kyuubi had gotten loose at the time, or at least, no one still living. For the truth is during the childbirth of Uzumaki Kushina, a mysterious man that claimed to be Madara Uchiha had appeared and ripped the Kyuubi out of her with plans of unleashing it upon the village.

Luckily, that plan had been thwarted by the current Hokage, a man by the name of Namikaze Minato, also known by the moniker as the Konoha no Kiiroi Senkō, a title he earned during the Third Shinobi World War for his use of the Hiraishin no Jutsu, as well as his speed. It was with this jutsu, as well as his analytic mind that he was able to force the masked man to retreat after finding a way around his Jikūkan Ninjutsu that allowed him to become intangible. After making sure that his family was safe Minato had proceeded to face the monstrous Bijuu on his toad summon Gamabunta. After a brief battle where in the end he teleported the Kyuubi away from the village, he had come to the conclusion that he had to reseal the Kyuubi into something, or more specifically, someone.

This had lead to him coming to the conclusion of needing to seal the Kyuubi into his newborn son, Naruto. Though his wife had objected at first, and even offered to seal the Kyuubi back into herself, knowing she would also die in the process, Minato managed to convince her otherwise, stating that Naruto needed at least one parent to raise him, and the technique he was planning on using was going to cost him his life. With Kushina going along with his plan, and all the preparations in order, Minato used a seal called the Shiki Fuujin, a seal that was devised by the Uzumaki clan to summon the Shinigami in order to seal away the soul of something in a person or object at the cost of the user's soul being consumed as well. On top of that he applied a seal known as the Hakke no Fuuin Shiki to allow the use of the Kyuubi's chakra to Naruto.

Everything was going as well as it could concerning the situation, that is until the Kyuubi saw what was about to happen and attempted to kill young Naruto to stop the sealing. Fearing for their son's life, both Kushina and Minato jumped in front of the incoming attack, halting it mere inches from Naruto, as well as allowing Minato to finish the sealing. Unbeknownst to all, Minato had split the Kyuubi's chakra as well as soul into their base components, Yin and Yang. Now during the moment, Minato had stopped to think which side would be better to give to his son, and during the time decided that for his benefit he would give him the Yin part of the chakra while sealing the Yang within himself to take it to the grave. As he spent his last moments listening to Kushina lecturing his newborn son, he wondered to himself how his life would turn out. The lasts thoughts of Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato was how much they loved their son, unknowing of how his life would truly turn out. It was on October 10th that the legends that were Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina died.

Following the sealing of the Kyuubi within Naruto the reinstated Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, told the population of Konoha that the Kyuubi was sealed within Naruto, and that Minato's last wish was for him to be treated as a hero. Unfortunately, that planned had backfired, as people immediately wished for the infant's death. Seeing that the only option for Naruto to have a relatively normal childhood was secrecy, he created a law that stated if anyone spoke of Naruto being the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki, then they were to be executed on the spot.

Afterwards, he decided that he would place Naruto in an orphanage in the naive hopes of him still having a normal childhood. This, is where our story truly begins, a story of what can only be called a life not worth living.

* * *

A child's growth is most important during the youngest years of their life, for that is where they learn many things necessary later on in life. That is why to anyone from outside of Konoha seeing an infant Uzumaki Naruto locked within a dark room would cause quite a bit of shock as well as outrage. Unfortunately, the only ones that knew he was in that room were the ones who put him there in the first place. The truth behind the matter is that even though the Hokage hand picked the orphanage that he sent Naruto to in hopes that the caretakers would be kind to him, he was once again mistaken of their true nature and left him to wolves in sheeps clothing. Truly, it was not his fault, for he could not read minds, and truth be told, he was quite busy trying to keep the village together as well as put a strong front so that the other villages didn't get any bright ideas about Konoha.

It was there that young Naruto spent the first three years of his life. Locked within a dark room with nothing in it but his imagination and dust, fed nothing but scraps, and never spoken to by anyone. However on the rare occasions that the Hokage came to check up on him, he was dressed well, told to smile and nod, and not to tell the Hokage of what happens to him. Being the young child he is, he quickly complied in a twisted fear of his caretakers. It was due to these rare trips, as well as the occasional times where he sat next to the door and listen to everyone else, that Naruto managed to learn to speak, albeit quite badly.

This, just so happened to be one of those rare trips. Walking down one of the various streets of Konoha's market district was the figure of the Hokage in his robes and hat, holding the hand of Naruto, who was wearing a simple white shirt and beige shorts. The strange thing him was the fact that he wasn't energetically chatting like a child his age should. In fact, Naruto's face was one of complete apathy, even as he looked around to take in the sights. Sighing, Hiruzen knew he had to take the first step as usual, else no conversation would ever take place.

"So Naruto-kun, how have you been lately? I know it's been a while since we spent some time together. Anything new happen?" He asked with a gentle smile on his face.

"Good. No new. Just same." Came the quiet response from the yellow haired child.

"There must be something new. Did you happen to make any new friends lately?" Now Hiruzen was starting to worry, more so than usual. That was always his response. He was starting to think that something was going on in the orphanage.

"No. No friends. Just same."

The way he said that in such a resigned tone, as if he knew that nothing new would ever happened caused the old man to pause for a split second. Such a reaction could only mean that his feelings of something bad happening in the orphanage to be true. While Naruto's quiet nature could have been a hint towards it, in a ninja village seeing a quiet child wasn't as rare as one would think. However, this was enough for the old Hokage to make up his mind. While he couldn't personally adopt Naruto due to the dangers that could come with it, both internal and external, he could help him set up a new life. With his mind made, he turned towards the three year old and posed his question.

"Naruto-kun, what would you say to having your own apartment? I know you are young, but it could give you the chance you need to explore a little more."

"That nice. Please?" This time, the child's response had a bit of hope in it.

"Of course Naruto-kun, let's head over to my office and get you set up. By the end of the day you'll be the proud owner of your very own apartment!" He replied, though his thoughts were darker.

'_What has happened to you that I don't know of… Naruto-kun...'_

With that, he lead himself and the child towards his office. That was the day that Naruto started living on his own. That was the day that everything wrong, yet right, truly began.

* * *

From that point onwards Naruto had lived alone in his apartment. At first is life was great, he had plenty of food, he had a comfortable bed, he could look outside and see the village, and there were even some books and toys he could read and play with. Things were going pretty smoothly, that is until he decided to step out of his apartment for the first time since he got it.

Walking down the street Naruto was looking for a place to buy some food. Up until now, every store he tried either ignored him completely, never allowing him to actually purchase the food, or threw him out immediately, leaving him with his many as well as a few choice words about what the store owner thought of him. So he was stuck wondering where he could possibly go to get food with his weekly funds. Eventually he came upon a store called Yui's Fresh Goods, and from what he saw, it was a fairly nice looking place, so he entered.

The inside of the store was fairly appealing, if not generic. Deciding that since he wasn't thrown out immediately, he might as well try to purchase some food for himself. Minutes later, he stood in front of the cashier and placed his items upon the counter. There wasn't much there, just some milk, bread, cheese, rice, as well as a few other things. The cashier looked down upon the child with disdain, but rung up the items anyway.

"That'll be 460 ryo."

Blinking in slight surprise, he looked at the money he had in his hand, which was his allowance of 500 Ryo, then back up at the cashier. Up till this point, he still didn't know much about numbers, or math in general, so he only hoped that he had enough. Placing down most of the money from his allowance on the counter he looked back up at the cashier.

"Is enough?" He asked with his head tilted to the side.

The cashier looked down at the money, and though he wanted to cheat the young boy out of even more of his money, he didn't want to be in his presence too long, so he just nodded and shoved the items into the boys arms and told him to leave.

Nodding quickly, Naruto ran out the shop and towards his apartment. Unknown to the young boy, there were some villagers who say where he was running, and saw that he wasn't heading towards the orphanage. Unfortunately for Naruto, they came to the conclusion that he must be living alone, why else would he be the one buying the groceries.

News of this spread, and by the end of the day a good portion of the village now knew where the young blond was living. The next day when Naruto head out to see the sights of the village that he was never able to properly take a look at before, the villagers struck.

Storming his apartment like a mass of stampeding bulls they broke the door open and began to unleash unholy hell upon the modest three room apartment. The plumbing was messed with so only could water came, the lights were destroyed, the bed was torn, the lock in the door was made so it wouldn't lock, and much more as well. They didn't leave until they made sure that the place was unlivable as possible.

Soon enough Naruto returned home, in a worse mood than when he left. He had seen some kids in a playground having fun, and asked if he could join. Being kids they said yes, and for once in his life, he was happy. That is, until the parents pulled the kids away after glaring at him silently. This kept happening no matter where he went, and he was slowly beginning to think that maybe he shouldn't try. This thought was simply reinforced when he saw his destroyed apartment. As he slowly walked in and looked around he began to silently wonder to himself.

'_What… Why me…? What I do? What wrong me? Why...'_

Slowly but surely he took everything in, making sure to close the now unlockable door behind him, and laid down on his bed, curling into the fetal position as he stared at the wall. Even though he was young, he had a feeling that this wasn't going to end. As he closed his eyes and kept asking himself why he slowly drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

* * *

His feelings were correct. The attitude of the villagers never changed, not even after two years had passed. After the initial destruction of his apartment, when the Hokage came to visit him and saw the state of the place, he had it fixed up, and even added more security measures to stop something like that from happening again. Sadly, the villagers were stubborn to a fault when it came to making Naruto's life miserable. No matter how hard it was to get inside his apartment, they always managed to do so, and they always ruined it, with each time being worse than the last. Eventually, both Naruto and the Hokage came to the saddening conclusion that they might as well not try fixing it, for it would only make things worse for the young child.

Outside of his house it was just as bad, if not worse. Unknown to him, he was still always charged double or triple the needed amount for food or clothes, which meant that he could only buy something once a week, and even then he had to moderate. Just as well, he was still ignored by children after their parents warned them to stay away from him, and they told their friends, and so on and so forth, till he was always alone. This had caused him to spend his days in the one place that treated him moderately better than the others, the library.

The story behind him finding the library wasn't something too major. It started off quite innocent actually. He had asked the Hokage of a place where he could learn to read new books as he had already finished the ones that were left for him, the ones that weren't destroyed anyway. While surprised at the question, the old Kage directed Naruto towards the library, and told him that there he could find more books than he could ever hope to read. Even though the Hokage had reassured him that he would be fine there, Naruto knew otherwise. It wouldn't be the first time he was thrown out of a place that didn't want him.

However, in a stroke of luck, it turned out that the librarian was one of the villagers that simply ignored him and went on with their lives, content that as long as he didn't bother them, they wouldn't bother him. With unlimited access to the library, Naruto read all the books he could get his hands on, as well as understand. From educational, to fictional, romance to horror, biographies to myths, he read them all. And up to a point, he was content. There was no one to glare at him, to look down on him, to belittle him, none of that was there when he was in the library with books. He felt safe with the thousands of books that surrounded him in a fortress of knowledge.

But Naruto still had a thirst for something. He never understood what, until he came across a book talking about the shinobis of the world, people with great powers that originated from a source called chakra. People that could do superhuman things, and held fame and glory. People that were looked up to. That was what he had wanted. He wanted to be a shinobi. He wanted power, more specifically, the knowledge that shinobis had access to. He knew that they had their own libraries filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of books and scrolls filled to the brim with knowledge that he simply craved to have. He also just so happened to know someone who could help him get that knowledge.

Thus, the next time Hiruzen came to visit him, he was prepared with a statement that threw the old man for quite the loop.

"I want to be a shinobi." Came the sudden statement from the five year old.

"What? No hello Oji-san?"

"I want to be a shinobi." Repeated the blond.

Sighing he looked down at the child through weary eyes. "And why, Naruto-kun, do you want to be a shinobi?"

"I… I want to know more. The only way to do that is to be a shinobi."

"Know more of what Naruto-kun?"

"Just to know more."

Sighing once again, his gaze softened and he placed a hand on top of the child's head. "The life of a shinobi is a hard one. It is a life filled with death, and danger. It isn't the glorious life of saving princesses and freeing countries that books make them out to be. Are you sure you want to do this?"

The only response he got was a single determined nod from the young boy.

"Very well Naruto-kun, I shall enroll you into the academy when you turn six. Is that fair enough?"

He got another nod from the quiet child. As Hiruzen closed his eyes and wondered what consequences his decision would have, he couldn't help but feel that this was the right thing to do, no matter what others said.

* * *

AN: That happens to be the end of the first chapter of my new story A Life Not Worth Living. Also no, I am not going to post a few chapters and then suddenly disappear for years on end, only to come back, say sorry, close this story, start a new story, and then start the cycle all over again. Hopefully. As to those who might ask why I didn't just pick up my other two stories, the answer is I just couldn't feel them right now. I hated the way I wrote and the way I thought back then, and trying to fix them without a proper fanbase(if I ever get one) would probably just make me want to jump of a metaphorical cliff. So I decided to write a new story based off of one of the many passing thoughts of how Naruto should have truly turned out based on the knowledge we have of him being neglected, and from an inference based on how human nature is, abused.

I really don't know where I want to go with this story past the first few chapters, which means that you, the readers, are going to have a large role in this story based on your reviews and your thoughts. So be sure to do just that, 'kay?

Now onto notes about this story. For those who know that in canon Minato seals the Yang part of the chakra into Naruto, I changed that for a very specific reason. We all know that Naruto always had horrible chakra control, something that, from my point of view, Kushina didn't have to suffer from. The reason she didn't was because she had the whole of Kurama within her, which meant the Yin and Yang parts balanced each other out. Which meant that she only needed to work on the control for her own chakra. I suppose I still should be clearer though. In depth, chakra is split into two parts, spiritual and physical. Naruto had an abundance of the physical aspect of chakra due to having the Yang part of Kurama sealed within him, increasing his chakra reserves, but making his chakra control worse than it should have been. Kushina on the other hand had both the Yin and the Yang parts within her, as well as having a different seal, which meant that not only did she get a boost in the Yang, which gave her more chakra, but in the Yin, which gave her increased control, and balanced out the Yang. So all she had to do was really work on the chakra she had naturally. Or at least, that's how I see it.

Now in this case, instead of having an abundance of physical chakra, Naruto has an abundance of spiritual/mental chakra, which means an increase aptitude for Genjutsu, increased chakra control, as well as an increased intellect. But, he still gets more chakra from Kurama, though that is where things get a bit funky. The way I see it, and based off what we know, the Yang part is half of Kurama's chakra as well as the life and body aspect of chakra, meaning an increase in healing and strength due to an increase in Yang chakra in ones body, as well as the obvious increase in chakra. Yin on the other hand would be half of Kurama's chakra as well as an increase in mental fortitude and potential as well as strength in soul, and that is precisely why I would imagine it would help in giving Naruto good chakra control. Not because of the Yin alone, no that would still be unbalanced in a manner quite similar to Yakumo and how she was amazing at Genjutsu but she was extremely weak physically, but because Naruto is an Uzumaki, thus meaning that he would have an increased chakra reserve, which would slightly balance out the Yin-Yang ratio in Naruto's chakra. I might write more on this next chapter if you people really want to hear my thoughts on the inner workings of chakra.

Also have some money conversion for better understanding. This is all approximation.

1 Ryo = 10 Yen

100 Yen = 1 US Dollar

10 Ryo = 1 US Dollar

Anyway, review if you want, whether you liked it, hated it, loved it, didn't really give a damn about it, etc. Expect another chapter within the next few days.


	2. If not knowledge?

**Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto, and I am not him.**

If not knowledge…?:

Today was the first day of the Academy for many people. One such person was a six year old Naruto Uzumaki who just so happened to be in a class with people two years older than him. Not that this discouraged him, not at all. In fact, he would much rather have people older than him, then his age. Much less room for error when trying to decide how to deal with them. All he he had to do was keep his head down and stay quiet, something that he was quite good at, in his modest opinion.

Now was such an example of that specific talent. At that moment, Naruto just so happened to be surrounded by a group of children that had decided from the get go to follow in their parent's footsteps and torment the 'demon child' in anyway they could.

"You know that nobody wants you here right?" jeered one of the kids.

"Yeah! My mom said that you were nothing but trouble! She said you could do everyone a favor just by disappearing!" taunted another of the kids.

"Look at him, with his head down. Hey! Are you even listening to us?" a third one pitched in.

"I don't like being ignored! Oi! I just said I don't like being ignored! Stop ignoring me you little brat!" the final member growled before shoving Naruto into one of his friends.

That little push started a game of monkey in the middle except there was no monkey, and Naruto just so happened to be the thing they were tossing around. This went on for another minute or so until the boys eventually got bored from the blond's unresponsiveness and went to head inside before the class started, leaving the boy to pick himself up off of the ground.

After staring at the sky blankly for a few seconds, Naruto slowly pushed himself off of the ground and began to head towards his class. Looking at the door he took a deep breath, and went in, suddenly coming face to face with his sensei, a man of average height with shaggy brown hair and light brown eyes that had his headband tied around his forehead and the standard Konoha Chunin attire, a man he would soon learn to be named Karada Yobi, or as he said to be called, Karaba-sensei. The teacher scowled at him and pointed at a desk in the back far corner of the classroom.

"Looks like you were just on time. Go sit in the back."

Nodding once with his head kept down Naruto trudged to the back and took his seat. Nodding to himself once the boy was seated, Yobi cleared his throat and began to address the class.

"Good morning class. My name is Karaba Yobi, but you will address me as Karaba-sensei. For the next four years I shall be the one to teach you the way of the shinobi. Now then, I will now take attendance. Akarui Asa?"

"Hai!"

"Antantaru Yoru?"

"Hai."

This went on for a bit more till Yobi came to one particular name.

"Uzumaki… Naruto…?" he asked with a hint of venom in his voice.

"Hai…" came the quiet response of the small boy.

Shaking his head with a small frown on his face he called the next name on the list. "Yudokuna Hana?"

"Hai!"

With everyone accounted for Yobi cleared his throat and once again began addressing the students once more. "I will now tell you what we shall be learning for the next year. Today will be a crash course in all the classes you shall be taking for the next four years. Tomorrow and the week onward we shall be focusing on some physical conditioning to help you access your chakra. For the month after that we will be focusing on tapping into your chakra reserves, and how to properly control your chakra using some basic techniques. After that we will begin having regular classes where everyday you will have a period of theoretical work, be that math, science, history, geography, or any other such topic. Afterwards will be shuriken and kunai practice, followed by taijutsu lessons. That will be your schedule for the rest of this year. You will learn more of ninjutsu and genjutsu next year and onwards. Any questions?"

No one said anything, so Yobi took that as a sign to continue. "Very well, first off, this classroom is where we shall be spending our time learning of the theoretical aspect of your education. By that I mean that you will be learning more about math and science, and how to apply it to missions and strategies. To supplement that you will be taught history and geography to expand your knowledge and allow you to properly react in any scenario you may find yourself in. In your third and fourth years you will be properly taught tactics and strategy. During this four year period the shinobi code shall be engraved within your mind as a guideline for how shinobi's should act. Along with that you will also be learning ninjutsu and genjutsu in this classroom. In the ninjutsu portion of class we will build upon your knowledge of chakra and it's workings, hand seals and their properties as well as your speed at forming them, how to manipulate and control your chakra, as well as learning some basic jutsus that are needed for any shinobi to be able to properly function in the field. You will not be taught how to cast any genjutsu, but you will be taught their properties and their inner workings, as well as how to spot when you are caught in one and how to properly break out of it. Now then, follow me."

He turned and began to head out the door, the students quickly filing after him. He lead them to the Academy training ground where there was already a group of students practicing their shuriken and kunai throwing techniques. Yobi turned towards his students once more.

"And this is where you be taught how to properly wield shuriken and kunais, as well as your taijutsu class. The first part is fairly self explanatory, you will be taught how to properly handle shuriken and kunais, as well as taught various techniques on how to throw them. We will be attempting to implement some of the theoretical knowledge into this class. In your taijutsu class you will learn the Academy taijutsu style, however that will not be all. You will be put through physical conditioning with exercises such as running laps or doing push ups to increase your overall stamina, strength, and speed among other things."

After that Yobi had the class spend the day watching the older Academy students during their classes as a way to help show what they would be learning and what to expect in the upcoming years in school. Throughout all this Naruto couldn't believe his luck, not only did he get to learn the art of being a shinobi, but he got to learn math and science and history and so much more. While true that he could learn it from reading books at the library, and he would do so anyway since he couldn't bother with waiting, learning from an instructor could potentially make things so much easier for him.

It was on that note that Naruto left the Academy at the end of the day a little more satisfied than before, and a bit more eager to return to school. On his way home he decided to stop by the library to see if he could find something to give him an edge, perhaps some books on chakra or something of that effect. It was on his way to the library, with him being preoccupied by his thoughts of what he could get to further himself in his studies that got him into a situation that would scar him mentally for the rest of his life.

As he was passing by one of the various alleyways a pair of hands appeared from the darkness of it and pulled him in then roughly tossed him to the ground further in the alley. Startled, Naruto shook his head and looked towards his attacker to find an average looking middle-aged man standing there and glaring down at him. From what Naruto could tell the man was a simple civilian, but he seemed more fit than the average civilian. What shook Naruto to his very core, however, was the look of pure unadulterated hatred that the man was sending him. Now he was used to getting glared at with hate, but this was on a whole new level, and he just didn't understand why the man would be glaring at him with such an intensity. So lost in his thoughts that Naruto almost missed what the man said.

"So it looks like the little demon boy decided to join the Shinobi Academy. Who do you think you are, endangering our future generation with your taint!" the man snarled at him.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto questioned as he pushed himself up.

"What am I talking about? How dare you speak as if you don't know what you did to everyone in this village all those years ago!" the man roared as he kicked Naruto in the chest, sending him back to the ground.

Rapidly blinking his eyes to stop the tears from coming out Naruto looked back up at the man and questioned him once more, knowing that he may very well be hit once again, but the boy just had to know what he did to cause people to hate him so. "Why? Why are you so angry?"

This response did exactly what Naruto secretly feared it would do. It enraged the man to a point beyond words, a point in which rationality was no longer part of the equation that dictated your actions. It was the straw that broke the camel's back and caused the man to lunge at Naruto viciously, descending upon him with a barrage of punches and kicks to the child's small frame. Fortunately for the child, the moment of rage passed just as quickly as it came, but the damage was already done. As the man looked down at the bloodied and bruised form of the child who curled up into a ball, tears leaking out his eyes as he mumbled to himself, a single stray thought flew through his mind that maybe, just maybe, the boy wasn't the fox that they all thought him to be. The man quickly purged that thought from his mind and scurried out of the alley, having done more than he came to do, leaving Naruto to cry quietly in the alleyway. All they went through Naruto's mind for the rest of the night was a single word.

'_Why?'_

For the week after that Naruto tried his best to forget that day with little success in that endeavor. It was only when Yobi-sensei told the class that today would be the day they worked towards unlocking their chakra that Naruto started to cheer up a little.

They were taken outside for the extra space and told to sit down in a meditative position and hold their hands in the ram seal to help channel their chakra. They were then instructed to focus on the main tenketsu that resided in their stomach, and slowly feed the chakra throughout the other tenketsus of their body. Of course, little to none of the children were able to feel their tenketsu, let alone channel their chakra through their bodies. That isn't to say there were no exceptions, for there was. In the form of one Uzumaki Naruto. On his very first try, not only was he able to successfully feel his tenketsu, but he was able to channel it through at least 20 of his other tenketsu. Granted, this was simply due to the presence of the Kyuubi within his body giving him easier access to his chakra reserves, but it was impressive none the less. However, instead of being celebrated like any other child would be, Naruto was quickly insulted and accused of cheating by his classmates, even though such a thing would be near impossible to fake, and while the sensei didn't say anything to defend Naruto, he also didn't stop the children from tearing into him with insults, only looking on with an approving eye as Naruto was belittled for a feat that would make one be called a prodigy.

The second day was worse than the first, since when the students went home they did something all children do with their parents. They shared how their day was with their families, and to say that the various parents of the Academy students were upset would a severe understatement equal to the likes of someone saying that the Kyuubi is just a bit big. Thus, when Naruto went to the Academy the next day he was greeted with stares crueler and filled with more hatred than before, and this seemed to have been passed onto their children as during the rest of the day he was constantly harassed, insulted, and belittled by his peers as he worked on the chakra flowing exercises that their sensei grudgingly told him in hopes of directing more anger towards the young child, which, of course, was an immense success.

This continued for the next month, with the parents hearing more and more of how Naruto was ahead of their children, and then them passing on a portion of their hatred to their children, which in turn made the children harass Naruto to the point of pulling him off to the side during their lunch break and shoving him around like a ragdoll, and then their sensei just showing Naruto another technique to strengthen his control over his chakra to continue the cycle over and over.

Eventually, the time of them working solely on their chakra had passed, and Naruto began to hope that he could finally not be insulted and berated for doing what he was told. That time didn't come, as for the following months, whenever he did better than many of the students in a subject such as math, or science, or even the physical training, he was insulted and accused of cheating, with of course their sensei doing nothing to stop such accusations. But during the few times he did slightly worse than others, he was jeered at for being dumb, and that everything he had done so far was just a fluke, which only caused them to come at him with even more heat when he did better than them once again. This made things even worse when they were in their taijutsu lessons, as he was always called up for their sensei to demonstrate new katas on, as well as usually being paired with the kids that did much better at taijutsu than him, just so he would be beaten, and he always had the feeling that the kids weren't pulling any punches.

It was a never ending cycle of despair, and Naruto began to pray for the year to end. And soon enough, it did. It was finally the last day of this year at the Academy for Naruto, and he couldn't be more excited. Not because there was a huge dinner coming for him, or that he had someone waiting for him, no it has been clear that he would never have such luxuries that other children have. No, he was excited because he could finally be alone with himself most of the day, most likely at the library, without everyone staring at him hatefully, mockingly, and always with just a hint of superiority added into it.

To Naruto, the bell couldn't ring fast enough, and as he raced out of the Academy, trying not to look at the parents and other family members waiting for their children, and trying to ignore the ache in heart as he did so, and began heading towards the library to be alone with the knowledge recorded within the building. However, just as he passed by an alleyway, he was suddenly pulled in and thrown to the back wall of the alley.

As he held a hand to his head and blinked away the dizziness, he couldn't help but feel a terrible sense of deja vu as he looked upon three burly men that looked like they did a lot of manual labor every day, though if Naruto had paid more attention, he would have noticed that they seemed to have bloodshot eyes, and that they were swaying ever so slightly, an indication that they were drunk. However, he didn't and as he looked at them, he could tell they weren't here to talk, though unable to form a coherent sentence would be a closer assessment, and that he shouldn't expect any answers of why they were doing this, and if he was honest with himself, he didn't want to ask in the first place, considering what happened the first time. Instead, he did the sensible thing in his mind. He closed his eyes and curled into a ball, and just in time too, as the first blow came at that moment. And then another, and another, and then they just kept coming and coming for what felt like hours to the young child.

Finally, the men stopped beating on the young blond, and stumbled out of the alley, laughing and somehow managing to joke with each other about their accomplishment of beating a young child to a bloody pulp. Meanwhile, said young child slowly uncurled himself and wiped away the tears on his face as he used the wall to support himself. This was only the second time this happened, but it always made him feel worthless when it did. He was just so powerless each time, and he still didn't understand why they did that to him.

As he slowly limped out the alleyway, still determined to get to the library and be alone, he wondered if this would happen in the upcoming years, and if it did, how he would manage. Either way, he made a promise to himself, a promise that he wouldn't give up till he saw the four years through. Then, and only then, would he decide to do anything else. He went into the program to get the knowledge that only shinobi had, and he would be damned before he left without what he came for. Yet, even with all that talk, he couldn't get rid of that small hesitance within him, that small part that just wanted him to hid himself from the world and not deal with the pain it brought. The small part that whispered to him his life wasn't worth living.

AN: Well I must apologize for such a long wait for this chapter, I just have been traveling a lot, and this chapter was hard to write to be honest. I feel like I am forcing it out, and I honestly can't say anything interesting is going to happen in the upcoming chapters. Really, this is put as a way of build up, and as a method where I don't have to constantly have flashbacks to his time as a child, Hopefully in a few chapters I should be able to get to the part of the story where the story begins to write itself. Of course, hearing some suggestions from you would always go a long way, especially considering I am not completely sure where I want to go after Naruto quits the Academy.

Either way, I don't have much in the manner of theory of the Naruto world to talk about, so I suppose I'll go straight to the reviews then.

**Star Bus**:Thanks for the compliment, and I hope that you continue to enjoy the story. And I will be sure to hit you up if I feel the need that a beta will do my work some good. Hope you enjoy the chapter.

**Psychotic Crow**: Thanks for the review, and yes I do realize that this has been done many times before, and I too hope this turns out to be another good one, but with chapters like these, I hesitate to say it will reach that level soon. Either way I hope you stay tuned and continue to enjoy the story.

**thor94**: Thanks for the review, and I don't think that is necessarily the question he would have in mind. Especially since this is fanfiction, and the possibilities are endless for what he can do, even if he leaves the shinobi force. Honestly, like I said before, I'm not SURE what he is going to do, but I hope it is something interesting. Hope you stay tuned and enjoy the chapter.

Well now that is done, feel free to review, ask questions about the story, ask my thoughts on theories of the Naruto world, or anything really. I hope you all enjoy the second chapter of A Life Not Worth Living, and I hope I can get the third chapter up soon as well.


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